Method and apparatus for twisting thread



Sept.10, 1946.- AN 2,407,358

METHOD m1) APPARATUS FOR TWISTING THREAD Filed Jan. 23-, 1945 Jmlqmmm Patented Sept. 10, 1946 *APPARATUS FOR TWIST-ING THREAD 'JohnK. Whisnant, .Enka, N. 0., assignor to. Ameri.--

'c'anEhka Corporation, Enka,.N'. C lacorporar tion ofDela'ware Applicationflar'maryvZB, 1945;.Serial N 0.; 574,109:

' Thepresent invention relatesto the handlingof freshly spun rayon and .more particularly to drawing yarn. from; a freshly; spun cake; while furtherztwisting :thesameanddoubling; and twistingstwo: or more; orgtheseya'rns in: a continuous operation.

In the normal production of yarns that-are ultimatelycableiwisted frombeamsforluse as reinforcing; elements? in: the .manufacture of, cord tir.es. .-and-the=like, adarge-number of manipulating operationsi arerinvolvedi. After: theyarns areeex- I truded; g coagnlated;- stretched, and; collected; as cakes-inzarrapidlyrotatingpentrifugal bucket; theyareezwashed; desnlphurizedaand: otherwise sub.--

jected' to thelnecessaryg wetsptreatmentswin the-.-

originalcakeform: whe'reafter-thecakes areidried;

throughia slasher-where theyeare driediunder ten. sionrandi finally; collected: onxa; beam... the yarns have to be cable twistedfromtheabeams:

It is an object of the present invention to produce cOneszoffcabliyarns of rayon in a simplified manner, in which the yarns are subjected to the desirable treatments although several steps of the normal process are omitted.

A further object of this invention is .to produce a cabled yarn directly from two or more freshly spun cakes which have been washed and suitably treated without drying.

An additional object as herein contemplated is to unwind freshly spun, wet cakes'that have been washed and, during such unwinding, to rotate the cakes and draw the yarn from the inside thereof whereby an additional twist is introduced into th yarn.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein the figure represents a diagrammatic view of an apparatus which can be conveniently employed in practicing the present invention.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the numeral I indicates a rotatable bucket, two of which being shown in the figure. Cakes of freshly spun, washed rayon are positioned within the respective buckets and the yarns I I ar withdrawn from the interiors of the cakes. As the yarns are withdrawn, the buckets are rotated so as to impart an additional twist to the individual strands, the initial twist having been given durscreams. (01. 576-34).

ing: the spinning: operation in which, the-yarns;

were,initially-collected in cake form; The degree of. additional twist is-dependent on theiR. P. M.-

of the buckets and .thes-rateat which the yarns v are withdra-wn'.

After the. yarns I-I arepassed through their re-;' spective. guides I 2, they are broughti together and" led'through a singleguide I 3 and thence throughaliquidtreating bath 4=.- Positioned in the-treat-- ing-bath" [4 are two-sets.-of rollers I5 and-I6; the lowermost roller." of" each-v set. being; positivelydriven and submerged in the treatinggbath. When the yarns -are-first threaded 1 up, they arerpassed overr-the upper roller of the roller set =I5'- and, therearound between the. upper. and lower" roller: and:- arerthen passed to and under; the lowermost? rollerofroller set I 6 whereethey are passed aroundi the lowermost and middle roller. and in contact with a portion of the periphery-0f the :top

1 roller wheregthey arerled' to sla' sherrollsv I'I; Durslashing point they are twisted togetherftOJfOImfZLCBJbIG orr-ply and collectedimpackage-form5'.-

As mentioned above, the yarn is further twisted by rotating the bucket as it is withdrawn therefrom. Therefore, th rotation of the bucket will be in the same direction as that of the bucket in which the yarn was originally spun and collected. When the several yarns are twisted to gether to form a cable at the ring twisting device I9, the direction of rotation depends on whether it is desired to have the cable twistin'the same or opposite direction from the yarn twist. In this particular case, the ring twister is rotated in the opposite direction so as to provide a cable twist in the opposite direction from the yarn twist.

The yarns in the cakes being wet, are capable of being stretched in the treating bath I4 by retating the set of rollers I6 at a higher peripheral speed than the set of rollers I5. The elongation is reduced by the said stretch, and drying the yarns under tension as they pass through the slasher II, effects a low elongation in the end product.

, In case it is not necessary to dry the yarns prior to collection, the process can be still further simplified. The slasher or other drying medium can be omitted and the yarns stretched either between the rollers or at the ring twister by the weight of the traveler as the yarns are passed directly to the ring twister. The cable could then be dried in package form.

If no further twist is required in the yarns, or, in other words, if a low yarn twist of three to four turns per inch is suflicient, then it is not necessary to rotate the buckets during withdrawal of the yarns. The yarns can be withdrawn merely by means of roller set l5. Moreover, in this method of operation, the size of the cable package is not restricted because the ends of several cakes can be tied together and as soon as one cake in th series ha been unwound the next cake will commence unwinding.

EmampZa-In the preparation of one standard cable used in reinforcing cord tires and the like, the following set of conditions was employed: Two buckets containing freshly spun wet cakes of viscose rayon having an initial twist of 2 /2 turns per inch were rotated at 8000 R. P. M. in adjacent relationship. (The cakes having been initially formed in buckets rotating in a clockwise direction, these buckets were also rotated in a clockwise direction.) The first set of rollers in the wet treating bath were driven at a peripheral speed of 695 inches per minute and the second set at a peripheral speed of 730 inches per minute. The slasher and feed rollers in advance of the ring twister were driven at a peripheral speed of 730 inches per minute and the twisting spindle was rotated at 8030 R. P. M. in a counter-clockwise direction. The resultin cable contained two plies (yarns) each with an initial twist of 14 turns per inch and the cable had 11 turns per inch in the opposite direction.

Of course, the yarn twist can be varied by changing the R, P. M. of the buckets and/or changing the take-up speed of the feed rollers 15.

The stretch can be varied by changing the relative speeds of the several feed rollers. The cable twist can be easily varied by changing the R. P. M. of the twisting spindle.

Various other modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention; e. g., if the yarn has been sufficiently treated in the initial cake form, the liquid treating bath can be omitted.

What is claimed is:

1. A method of producing cabled yarns from freshly spun cakes of rayon that have been washed in cake form which comprises positioning at least two such cakes in adjacent relationship, drawing the yarns from the insides of the respective cakes while rotating the same to increase the twist thereof individually, stretching the yarns and passing the same together under tension through a drying zone whereby the yarns are dried and a low elongation is effected and finally twisting the yarns together during collection to form a package consisting of cabled yarn.

2. A method of producing cabled yarns directly from freshly spun cakes of initially twisted rayon from which th impurities have been removed by wet treatment in the original cake form which comprises positioning at least two such wet cakes in rotatable buckets arranged in adjacent relationship, withdrawing the yarns from the interiors of the respective cakes and increasing the individual twist thereof by rotating the buckets during withdrawal of the yarns, passing the yarns together through a wet treating zone, stretching theyarns and drying the same under tension' whereby a low elongation is effected therein and finally cable twisting the yarns during collection to form a package consisting of cables in a dry state.

3. An apparatus for the preparation of twisted cables of rayon which comprises a yarn source consisting of at least two cakes of freshly spun initially twisted rayon from which the impurities have been removed, means for supporting and rotating the cakes, means for withdrawing the yarns from the respective cakes at a predetermined rate and in fixed relation to the R. P. M. thereof to impart an additional twist to the individual yarns, means for passing the yarns together through a liquid treating bath, said means also acting to stretch the same, means for drying the yarns under tension whereby a low elongation is effected and means'for cable twisting the yarns JOHN K. WHISNANT. 

